"Thus it is said that one who knows the enemy and knows himself will not be endangered in a hundred engagements."
Sun Tzu, The Art of War.

Wednesday, August 08, 2012

Face of Defense: Marine Declines Scholarship to Serve

By Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Brian
Buckwalter

Regimental Combat Team 6

COMBAT OUTPOST JAKER, Afghanistan, Aug.
8, 2012 – For some people, history is just another subject in school. For
Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Joshua Taylor, being a part of history was a calling.

To follow that calling, Taylor, 21, from
Troy, Ala., left behind a full-ride scholarship to college to join the Marine
Corps. The only reason he even went to college for a year was because it was
free, he said, noting he’s always had an interest in the military.

“Action movies had a role in it,” he
said, but so did his interest in warfare, tactics and World War II history.

Taylor, a 2009 graduate of Pike Liberal
Arts School, went to recruit training and then to the Marine Corps’ School of
Infantry. Following his initial training, he was assigned to 2nd Platoon, Lima
Company, 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment.

At first, Taylor said, he wasn’t sure if
the Camp Lejeune-based unit was going to deploy, a disappointing possibility
for an infantry Marine.

“I wanted to be here [in Afghanistan]
before the war was over,” he said.

His best friend, who also joined the
Marine Corps, is stationed in Hawaii. “He said I’m the lucky one,” Taylor said,
because his friend also wanted the opportunity to deploy to Afghanistan.

Taylor deployed to Afghanistan exactly a
year into his enlistment, and just before his 21st birthday. He serves near the
Nawa district of Helmand province, and so far he has had a quiet deployment.

The Marines work with Afghan National
Army and other Afghan forces in the area, and the Marines assist Afghan forces
if they request it.

This approach is part of the transition
from coalition-led to Afghan-lead security operations. Marines had been fighting
in the lead in Helmand province, then shoulder to shoulder with Afghan forces,
before beginning to make the transition to an advisor-only force earlier this
year.

Taylor, who was 10 years old when the
9/11 attacks happened, said this transition is a sign of progress in the
country.

With less to do “outside the wire,”
Taylor said, he and other 2nd Platoon Marines pass time at their small combat
outpost any way they can. Taylor said everyone brought laptop computers to
watch movies on, and the outpost has a gym with weights and cardio equipment.
Once or twice a week, Taylor said, he goes to the morale, welfare and
recreation tent to check his Facebook account, but he usually tries to keep his
mind off of what he is missing back home.

Taylor said he went through recruit
training and the School of Infantry with some of the Marines in his squad.
They’ve all developed a strong bond with each other, he said.

“I know everyone would have my back,
just like I would have their back,” Taylor said.

Taylor said it’s too early to decide
whether he will re-enlist or depart the Marines when his four-year contract
expires. If he does decide to get out, he said, he will go back to college to
become a stockbroker or learn computer security.

Whatever he decides to do, Taylor said,
he will be always able to look back at his service and know that he was a part
of something bigger than himself.

“I always hoped to be a part of
history,” Taylor said. “It’s something I can be proud of.”